The downside of this conference call (a "gangbang," in journalism parlance), which Bon Jovi members Richie Sambora and Tico Torres held to plug their Circle World Tour, is hearing the ridiculous statements/questions reporters actually ask when they're not kissing the band's ass. (And believe me, there's a lot of ass-kissing!)
First, a sampling of inane questions:
• "Happy Groundhog's Day. Did you see you shadow this morning or did you go outside yet?"
• "I noticed every time I see you guys that you guys draw more women to rock concerts than just about any other band. I'm curious why you think that is?"
• "So I hope Jon's absence this morning on the call doesn't mean you guys are pulling an Aerosmith and moving on without him?"
• "What do you think of Canada and Canadians?"
The hour-long call was filled with more than rubbish, though. The following questions are ones that garnered some of the best responses from Sambora and Torres.
Reporter: Tell us what the show is going to look like this time around?
Sambora: We're going to go back and we're going to play some stuff that we haven't played in 20 years, like stuff from the maybe first two albums. And we have so many records to choose from and so many songs to choose from . . . I'm sure that we'll do The Circle in its entirety a few times on this tour because we're really, really proud of this record. It's going to be a vast array.
Reporter: You've been around for 25 years and it was your first time performing the Grammys this year. Was it frustrating to not be invited to perform during past awards shows?
Torres: The Grammys have always been more of a corporate voting system. Yes, we've always scratched our head about that one, but it's nice to be acknowledged finally.
Reporter: I read somewhere that you've performed more than 2,000 concerts. How do you keep things interesting on the road?
Sambora: Oh, you know, we have lots of songs to choose from. Obviously, we are a band of the people, and we give the people the songs that they want to hear . . . On our set list every night we have a thing called audibles, which means you could interject any song at any point in time. And we sound-check every day, so we're always trying out new stuff to play in the shows.
Reporter: Do you ever feel pressured to play older songs? And do you ever get tired of it, or are those songs like old friends?
Sambora: Let's put it this way: I'm not going to sit around in my house and play "Livin' on a Prayer," but when I'm playing in front of people, it becomes something different. It becomes an experience . . . But it's kind of like having sex with 70,000 people when you're playing in a rock 'n' roll band . . . "Livin' on a Prayer" is a song that, you know, is still current today. That story is still going to be current. It's kind of like a timeless story. Everybody is (Tommy) and (Gina), you know what I mean? Everybody's been in that situation before.
Kelly Wilson: Jon does some stuff outside of Bon Jovi, with acting and the Arena Football League. What do you guys do individually outside of the band?
Sambora: I do some movie soundtrack work and stuff like that. I'd love to do another solo album. I haven't done one in a long time. But the band has been going so strong and so successfully that I haven't had the time to do it.
